Proteas ready to bury 'chokers' tag
South Africa have reinvented themselves as a T20 team for all seasons and insist their reputation as 'chokers' is history.
Coach Mickey Arthur and wicketkeeper Mark Boucher both spoke with confidence, ahead of their ICC World Twenty20 semi-final against Pakistan at Trent Bridge, about South Africa's readiness to prove themselves.
It is at this stage that they have so often fallen short - beginning in their first World Cup in 1992 when there was little they could do about a farcical runs recalculation after rain.
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Since then, they have lost World Cup semi-finals in 1999 - in an infamous last-ball finish against Australia at Edgbaston - and 2007, before bowing out of the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 on their home turf in regrettable circumstances against India.
Boucher has been a cornerstone throughout - along with Jacques Kallis, who is fit to play on Thursday after a minor back problem - yet both he and Arthur sense a new South Africa has emerged.
"We have been in a couple of semis before, but there is a different feeling with this team," Boucher claims.
"We have a different management, different players - and we've been through a lot of tests in the last year that we've come through with flying colours.
"We've handled pressure pretty well - and we hope that's a sign of things to come in the latter stages of this tournament.
"We hope this time we can go the whole way."
South Africa have a perfect record of five wins from five in this tournament, a run completed with a 12-run victory - on the back of some high-class bowling from their spin collective - against already eliminated India in the final Super Eights fixture.
"We've been in some tricky situations," Boucher points out.
"I think Tuesday was one, playing against India on a wicket that probably wasn't the best.
"But we managed to come through it - and we do back ourselves to do the right things at the right time more often than any other team can."
As for the specific challenges posed by Pakistan, Boucher is aware but not fearful.
Even the controversial early reverse-swing with which Umar Gul took a record-breaking five for six to see off New Zealand at The Oval on Saturday is no reason for trepidation. "We can say if the ball is going to move for them, the ball is going to move for us as well," Boucher reasons.
"A guy like Umar Gul is a very good bowler at the death - and he probably will swing it a bit.
"But we have faced him before and we have been successful against him before. So we're not too worried about what they're going to have in their bag; we're more worried about what we can do to try to get the best out of our players."
Arthur does not deny South Africa's past vulnerabilities - but believes they are now simply a stronger unit in mind and body.
"We could get beaten, and then again the chokers' tag might surface," he concedes.
"But for us, that's not an issue. As long as we are playing the game to the best of our ability and we are not panicking in the crucial situations, we're not scared of losing.
"The guys have been put in these situations over the last 18 months and have come through.
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"Mentally our team is very, very strong and ready to go to another level."
South Africa have embraced spin as a vital Twenty20 weapon - and the balance of their team is barely recognisable from its pace-oriented predecessors. "I think we've improved in every department," Arthur contends.
"We've had a lot more clarity in how we want to play the game - and we've given this game a lot of thought."
South Africa's plans for this campaign have been a long time in the making - since their tour of England last summer - and culminated in more Twenty20 brainstorming in the short gap between the end of this year's Indian Premier League in their country and their arrival in England.
"After the IPL, we went away on camp into the bush and had some serious discussions on how we wanted to play this game," Arthur reports.
"We felt our players didn't need any physical activity; they needed to sit down and discuss how we were going to set about attempting to win the Twenty20 in England.
"Back in 2007, we had one spin bowler in Robin Peterson - and he played less than 50% of the games.
"When I look at our set-up now, we've suddenly got five spin bowlers. These are very exciting times for South African cricket."
Arthur's opposite number Intikhab Alam remains very mindful of South Africa's repeat offences at crucial points in major tournaments - and he believes that potential frailty may give Pakistan an edge.
"They are a very talented side, but the pressure will be on them," said Intikhab.
"They haven't won anything of this nature. They have come very, very close - they've reached the semis. But they have never done it.
"They will have the pressure, and we won't. We have that advantage."
Intikhab has great respect for his opponents' ability but still senses their past misdemeanours may come back to haunt them.
"They have played well throughout this tournament and are a very professional, committed and dedicated set of cricketers," he acknowledged.
"But the history of South African cricket tells us that at the crunch time when it really matters they have 'choked'. I hope that happens again."
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The Pakistan coach made it clear too that he has no time for the queries about possible ball-tampering which came out of the Kiwi camp after Gul's spell last weekend.
"We are not angry. I think it's rubbish," he said.
"That statement was uncalled for from (New Zealand captain Daniel) Vettori. That was in a bad taste. But we're not concerned about that.
"These are negative things, and we don't discuss them. We don't remind the players of that, just tell them to go and do their best. This won't have any side-effects on us."
Approaching milestones
- In case of a win, South Africa would be the first team to register 10 victories in the ICC World Twenty20.
- Shoaib Malik (469) requires 31 runs to become the second Pakistani after Misbah-ul-Haq (504) to complete 500 runs in Twenty20 Internationals.
Head to Head
- South Africa and Pakistan have played against each other in a Twenty20 International only once. South Africa (132-0) had defeated Pakistan (129-8) by 10 wickets at Johannesburg on February 2, 2007.
- South Africa's record in the ICC World Twenty20 is outstanding - 9 wins out of 10 - winning % 90.00.
- Pakistan have won 8 out of 12 matches in the ICC World Twenty20 - winning % 66.67.
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